Miller



(No Model.)

G. W. MILLER. FLOORING 0R SIDING ToNGs.

No. 483,571. f Patented Oct. 4, 1892.

@MGM-2f UNMTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE WASHINGTON MILLER, OF LUCAS, MICHIGAN.

FLOORING OR SIDING TONGS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 483,571, dated October 4, 1892.

Application filed March 24, 1892. Serial No. 426.297. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE WASHINGTON MILLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lucas, in the county of Missaukee and State of Michigan, have invented a new and useful Flooring or Siding Tongs, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in tongs for laying flooring, putting up siding or ceiling-strips; and it consists of the construction and arrangement of the parts thereof, as will be more f nll y hereinafter described and claimed.

The object of this invention is to provide tongs for the purposes set forth which will be simple and effective in their operation, strong and durable, easily handled, and readily understood, and having means for sustaining them in an adjusted posit-ion.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of the device shown in use for laying flooring. Fig. 2 is a similar view of the tongs, showing them sustained in an adjusted position. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the parts represented by Fig. 2, shown disconnected.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral l represents the reins or handles, and 2 the jaws formed on said reins or handles and at right angles thereto, the said parts being pivoted, as at 3. The said jaws are spread some distance apart and have projections or points 4 extending from the inner surfaces thereof toward each other. Extending transversely through each of the reins or handles 1 are apertures 6, for a purpose which will be hereinafter more fully set forth.

The device as thus far described may be used in laying iiooring, putting up siding, or applying ceiling-strips by causing the jaws to straddle the joists, and the projections or points pressed into the sides thereof. By grasping the eXtreme outer ends of the reins or handles and bringing the parts of the tongs adjacent to the jaws thereof to bear on the flooring-strip, siding, or ceiling-strips being forced into position by the same they maybe firmly clamped into position and simultaneously nailed. It will be understood, of course, that a suitable clamping block or strip may be inserted between the jaws of the tongs and the strips being forced into position.

It ofttimes becomes necessary to hold the flooring, siding, and ceiling parts in position when being applied, and to conveniently accomplish this I provide a rod or bar '7,having a yoked end 8, with lugs 9 projecting inward at right angles from the ends thereof and adapted to engage the apertures 6in the reins or handles 1. The opposite end of the rod or bar 7 is tapered into a point, as at l0, adapted to be driven into the adjacent portion of a joist or other base-support. By this means the tongs may be readily sustained in adjusted position, and the pressure on said tongs is regulated by the position or angle occupied by the said rod or bar 7.

By the use of the Vdevice herein set forth the desired operation is greatly facilitated and a great amount of work can be accomplished.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is- The tongs herein described, consisting of jaws having projections or points extending from the inner sides of the jaws thereof and transverse openings extending through the reins or handles of the saine and a :rod or bar having a yoked end with lugs to engage said openings in the reins or handles at one end thereof and the opposite end tapered into a point, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE WASHINGTON MILLER. Witnesses:

SAML. J. WALL, HENRY HAUsEN. 

